It has happened again and again and again. A gunman opens fire somewhere in America, killing and wounding multiple innocent victims and igniting a debate over gun control that flickers for a few days and then quickly dies out.

TUCSON The man who carried out the Tucson-area shooting rampage that killed six people and wounded then-U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, among others, has been returned to the federal prison in Missouri where he has been treated for mental illness for about 18 months.

A husband speaking at the sentencing hearing for the disturbed gunman who nearly killed his wife, murdered six other people, including a 9-year-old girl, and wounded a dozen others gets to say anything -- anything -- he wants.